The base engine lacks a few essential features used to create the extra power and comes with a cheaper, smaller, and lighter transmission with different gear ratios that aren’t rated for the extra power. Or, as Chevy explained to us, if you tuned the base engine to full power, the transmission would terminate itself under the added stress. That’s if the pistons don’t fail first.
This means you can upgrade any Colorado trim to full power, and if you really wanted, you could snag an absolutely basic WT truck, complete with steel wheels, and have it make full power for just under $32,000. That sounds like one hell of a midsize workhorse to us.